Action

In Bruges

 

As I sat watching the first two awards announced at the Oscars, fighting with my cable box for its inability to play “Room,” I realized all I needed for real Sunday entertainment was my DVD collection, and In Bruges.

A go-to for a lot of film fans trying to help out a bored friend, this British flick is at the top of British (…Irish) Drama game.

Colin Farrell stars as Ray, a hitman, who along with his “co-worker,” Ken (Brendan Gleeson) has been sent to Bruges, Belgium to await orders from their boss, Harry.

The plot unfolds in such an artful way that I don’t want to delve into it any more here.

Martin McDonagh, (the brilliant genius behind Seven Psychopaths), does what he does best here.  He creates a simple story about a lost hit man and coats it with a thick layer of allegory, meta-plot, blatant hints you don’t see, and a perfect peppering of humour.

Farrell, (who is, IMO, one of the top 3 most underrated actors of our time) really shines here as Ray.  He even won the Golden Globe for Best Actor for it…. (Sorry, Oscars and DDL, this was Colin’s year).

By treating “crime” the way it does, it really takes you into the life of these hitmen and out of your every day.  It’s dark, it’s sad, it’s funny, and it’s exciting, a difficult combo on which McDonagh doesn’t disappoint.

Great if you liked: Seven Psychopaths, Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Layer Cake, Lucky Number Slevin, Rock N Rolla

Hardcore Henry

It’s a fact that this is an over zealous post.  This was supposed to be buried in the vault for a little while but I am JUST SO EXCITED THAT THIS MOVIE HAS AN OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE.

Back when this was still called “Hardcore,” I was fortunate enough to catch this masterpiece at the Toronto International Film Festival, and it was pretty tough to survive the 90 minute run time without blinking ONCE.

In this movie version of an RPG, you wake up, Henry, with no memory of who you are, being put back together by your beautiful wife.  As she is finishing up installing your voice module, some ‘hell breaks loose’ and, well, you’re off for the best action packed thrill ride you’ll ever see through your own eyes.

The POV of this film is more amazing than you’re imagining.  It has the “one long shot” vibe of Birdman, with the frantic sci fi of the best RPG and some Looper vibes.  What’s even more amazing is that a lot of this flick was shot with go-pros and cameras literally strapped to a guy running.  I’ll reference you to the “bridge free run” scene which was literally filmed without safety harnesses, and just some stunt men running, one of them strapped with cameras.  My heart was in my throat enough without knowing that.

This death defying romp is more fun than you could ever imagine and is completely insane, courtesy of the eccentric Jimmy(s) brought to life by Sharlto Popley.  There’s a dance scene.  That’s all you need to know. (And, no, it’s nothing like Spider-man 3).

I can’t recommend this one enough, and if you can, try your best to catch this one in theaters after it’s exciting April 9, 2016 release.  Ugh, congrats, Ilya Naishuller, you killed it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuYCfc0loCE

Amazing if you liked: any RPG game, Looper, Rare Exports, Big Game, The Sixth Day, 28 Weeks Later, Dredd, Judge Dredd